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- MAKES YOUR SKIN CRAWL
DEPARTMENT -

Morgellons: A Hidden Epidemic or Mass Hysteria?
By Will Storr

It's a mysterious condition
that affects tens of thousands worldwide. But what is it?

It all started in August 2007, on a family holiday in New England. Paul
had been watching Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix with his
wife and two sons, and he had started to itch. His legs, his arms, his
torso – it was everywhere. It must be fleas in the seat, he decided.

But the 55-year-old IT executive from Birmingham has been itching ever
since, and the mystery of what is wrong with him has only deepened.
When Paul rubbed his fingertips over the pimples that dotted his skin,
he felt spines. Weird, alien things, like splinters. Then, in 2008, his
wife was soothing his back with surgical spirit when the cotton swab
she was using gathered a curious blue-black haze from his skin. Paul
went out, bought a £40 microscope and examined the cotton. What
were those curling, coloured fibres? He Googled the words: "Fibres.
Itch. Sting. Skin." And there was his answer. It must be: all the
symptoms fitted. He had a new disease called morgellons. The fibres
were the product of mysterious creatures that burrow and breed in the
body. As he read on, he had no idea that morgellons would turn out to
be the worst kind of answer imaginable.

Morgellons was named in 2001 by an American called Mary Leitao, whose
son complained of sores around his mouth and the sensation of "bugs".
Examining him with a toy microscope, Leitao found him to be covered in
unexplained red, blue, black and white fibres. Since then, workers at
her Morgellons Research Foundation say they have been contacted by more
than 12,000 affected families. Campaign group the Charles E Holman
Foundation states there are sufferers in "every continent except
Antarctica". Thousands have written to Congress demanding action. In
response, more than 40 senators, including Hillary Clinton, John McCain
and a pre-presidential Barack Obama, pressured the Centres For Disease
Control And Prevention (CDC) to investigate; in 2006, it formed a
special taskforce, setting aside $1m to study the condition. Sufferers
include folk singer Joni Mitchell, who has complained of "this weird
incurable disease that seems like it's from outer space... Fibres in a
variety of colours protrude out of my skin: they cannot be forensically
identified as animal, vegetable or mineral. Morgellons is a slow,
unpredictable killer – a terrorist disease. It will blow up one of your
organs, leaving you in bed for a year."

So it's new, frightening and profoundly odd. But if you were to seek
the view of the medical establishment, you'd find the strangest fact
about this disease: morgellons doesn't exist.

I meet Paul in a pub in a Birmingham suburb. He shows me pictures he's
collected of his fibres. On his laptop, a grim parade of images flicks
past. There are sores, scabs and nasal hairs, each magnified by a
factor of 200. In each photo there is a tiny coloured fibre on or in
his skin.

"Is it an excrement?" he asks. "A byproduct? A structure they live in?"
A waitress passes with a tray of salad as he points to an oozing wound.
"Is it a breathing pipe?"

Paul absent-mindedly digs his nails into a lesion just below the hem of
his shorts. Little red welts pepper his legs and arms, some dulled to a
waxy maroon, others just plasticky-white scar tissue.

He has seen an array of experts – GPs, allergy doctors, infectious
diseases clinicians and dermatologists. Most end up agreeing with the
skin specialist to whom he first took samples of his fibre-stained
cotton: his sores are self-inflicted and he suffers from delusions of
parasitosis (DOP), a psychiatric condition in which people falsely
believe themselves to be infested. This particular form of DOP is
thought to be unique, in that it's spread through the internet. Whereas
in the past, episodes of mass hysteria were limited to small
communities – perhaps the most famous being the witch panic in Salem,
Massachusetts in the 1690s – today, imagined symptoms can spread much
farther on the web.

Paul is not convinced by this diagnosis. He carries an alcohol hand gel
everywhere he goes, has four showers a day and steam-cleans his
clothes. The stress leaves him exhausted, short-tempered. He has
difficulty concentrating or applying himself at work. His lowest points
have been "pretty much feeling like ending it. Thinking, could I go
through with it? Probably. It's associated with the times the medical
profession have dismissed me. It's just… I can't see myself living for
ever with this."

Has he mentioned these thoughts to his doctor?

"No, because talking about things like that adds a mental angle –
supports the prognosis of DOP. And it's absolutely a physical
condition. I mean, look!"

The evidence on his computer does appear convincing. Much thinner than
his body hair, the fibres seem to be protruding from his sores. But
what are they? And how did they get there? To find out, I'm heading to
the 4th Annual Morgellons Conference in Austin, Texas, to meet a
molecular biologist who doesn't believe the medical consensus. Rather,
he argues, the forensic tests he's commissioned on the fibres point to
something altogether more unworldly.

In spring 2005, Randy Wymore, associate professor of pharmacology at
Oklahoma State University, stumbled across an article about morgellons.
Reading about the fibres sufferers believed were the byproduct of some
weird parasite, but which were dismissed by dermatologists as humdrum
environmental detritus, he thought, "But this should be easy to figure
out." He emailed sufferers, requesting samples, then compared them with
samples of cotton, nylon, carpets and curtains. Examining them under
the microscope, he got a shock. The sufferers' fibres looked utterly
different.

Wymore arranged for fibre analysis at the Tulsa police department's
forensic laboratory. Moments into his tests, a detective with 28 years'
experience of this sort of work murmured, "I don't think I've ever seen
anything like this." The morgellons particles didn't match any of the
800 fibres on their database, nor the 85,000 known organic compounds.
He heated one fibre to 600C and was astonished to find it didn't burn.
By the day's end, Wymore concluded, "There's something real going on
here. Something we don't understand at all."

Last year, he approached several commercial laboratories to run further
tests, but the moment they discovered the job was related to
morgellons, firm after firm backed out. Finally, Wymore found a lab
prepared to take the work. It is these results that will be revealed
during the course of the two-day conference.

An hour south of Austin, in the lobby of the Westoak Woods Baptist
Church convention centre, morgellons sufferers from the US, UK, Spain,
Germany and Mexico gather by the breakfast buffet. Threads of
conversation rise from the hubbub: "I mix Vaseline with sulphur and
cover my entire body"; "The more you try to prove you're not crazy, the
more crazy they think you are"; "The whole medical community is part of
this. I wouldn't say it's a conspiracy but…"

Many of the attendees have been diagnosed with DOP, a subject that
enrages one of the first speakers – Dr Greg Smith, a paediatrician of
28 years' experience. "Excuse me, people!" he says. "This is morally
and ethically wrong! So let me make a political statement, boys and
girls." He pulls off his jumper, to reveal a T-shirt reading, "DOP"
with a red line through it. "No more!" he shouts above wild applause.
"No more!"

Later, Smith tells me he's been a sufferer since 2004. "I put a
sweatshirt I'd been wearing in the garden over my arm and there was
this intense burning, sticking sensation. I thought it was cactus
spines. I began picking to get them out, but it wasn't long before it
was all over my body." He describes "almost an obsession. You just
can't stop picking. You feel the sensation of something that's trying
to come out of your skin. You've just got to get in there. And there's
this sense of incredible release when you get something out."

Smith's exposed skin is covered in waxy scars. Although he still
itches, his lesions appear to have healed. If, as morgellons patients
believe, the sores are not self-inflicted but caused by fibre-creating
parasites, how is this possible? "I absolutely positively stopped
picking," he says.

That evening, at a nearby Mexican restaurant, I meet Margot, a midwife
from Ramsgate who has resorted to bathing in bleach to rid herself of
morgellons. She describes how, armed with times-three magnification
spectacles, a magnifying glass and a nit comb, she scraped "black
specks" from her hair and face on to sticky labels and took them to a
dermatologist. She was diagnosed with DOP. "I'm a midwife," she says.
"I take urine samples and blood specimens. So I was taking them a
specimen. That's what wrecked my life and career."

Next, I corner Randy Wymore. He is a slim man with a charcoal shirt,
orange tie and neatly squared goatee. "We have not yet exactly
replicated the exact results of the forensics people in Tulsa," he
admits. So far, the laboratory has found Wymore's various morgellons
fibres to be: nylon; cotton; a blond human hair; a fungal fibre; a
rodent hair; and down, most likely from geese or ducks.

"That's disappointing," I say.

He leans his head to one side and smiles. "It is, for the most part,
disappointing, but there was a bunch of cellulose that didn't make
sense on one. And another was unknown." There's a pause. "Well, they
said it was a 'big fungal fibre', but they weren't completely
convinced."

The next day, nursing practitioner Dr Ginger Savely, who claims to have
treated more than 500 morgellons patients, leads an informal discussion
in the conference room. Around large circular tables sit the dismissed
and the angry. "I've seen a fibre go into my glasses," says one. "I've
seen one burrow into a pad," adds another. "One of my doctors thinks
it's nanotechnology"; "I was attacked by a swarm of some type of tiny
wasps that seemed to inject parts of their bodies under my skin"; "They
have bugs on public transport. Never put your suitcase on the floor of
a train."

A furious woman with a big scar on her jaw says, "I have Erin
Brockovich's lawyer's number in my purse. Don't you think I'm not going
to use it."

"But who are you going to sue?" asks a frail, elderly lady two tables
away.

In a far corner, a woman with a round plaster covering a dry, pinkly
scrubbed cheek weeps.

I retire to the lobby to await my allotted chat with Savely. I become
aware of a commotion at reception. One of the attendees is complaining
loudly: "It's disgusting! Bugs! In the bed. I've already been in two
rooms…"

When she's gone, I ask the receptionist if, over the weekend, there has
been a surge in complaints about cleanliness. "Oh yeah." She leans
forward and whispers conspiratorially. "I think it's part of their
condition."

Yet, when we speak, Savely is resolute. "These people are not crazy,"
she insists. "They're good, solid people who have been dealt a bad lot."

A woman approaches the vending machine behind Savely. Between her hand
and the handle of her walking stick is a layer of tissue paper.

There is an element of craziness, I suggest.

"OK, there is," she says, "but it's understandable. For people to say
you're delusional is very anxiety-provoking. Then they get depressed.
Who wouldn't? The next stage is usually an obsessive-compulsive thing –
paying attention to the body in great detail. But, again, I feel this
is understandable, in the circumstances."

I slip back into the conference room, where Margot is using her
£700 Wi-Fi iPad telescope to examine herself. I have an idea.

"Can I have a go?"

Pushing the lens into my palm, I immediately see a fibre. The group
around me falls into a hush. "Did you clean your hand?" Margot asks.
She fetches an antibacterial wet-wipe. I scrub and try again. I find an
even bigger fibre. I wipe for a second time. And find another one.
Margot looks up at me with wet, sorry eyes. "Are you worried?" She puts
a comforting hand on my arm. "Oh, don't be worried, Will. I'm sure you
haven't got it."

Back in London, I find a 2008 paper on morgellons in the journal
Dermatologic Therapy that describes patients picking "at their skin
continuously in order to 'extract' an organism"; "obsessive cleaning
rituals, showering often" and individuals going "to many physicians,
such as infectious disease specialists and dermatologists" – all
behaviours "consistent with DOP". (For treatment, the authors recommend
prescribing a benign antiparasitic ointment to build trust, and
supplementing it with an antipsychotic.) After finding "fibres" on my
own hand, I'm fairly satisfied morgellons is some 21st-century genre of
OCD spread through the internet and the fibres are – as Wymore's labs
report – particles of everyday, miscellaneous stuff: cotton, human
hair, rat hair and so on.

There is one element of the condition that's been niggling, though.
Both Paul and Greg's morgellons began with an explosion of itching. Now
it's affecting me: the night after my meeting with Paul, I couldn't
sleep for itching. I had two showers before bed and another in the
morning. All through the convention, I am tormented; driven to
senseless scratching. Why is itch so infectious?

I contact Dr Anne Louise Oaklander, associate professor at Harvard
Medical School and perhaps the only neurologist in the world to
specialise in itch. I email her describing morgellons, pointing out
it's probably some form of DOP. But when we speak, she knows all about
morgellons already. "In my experience, morgellons patients are doing
the best they can to make sense of symptoms that are real. They're
suffering from a chronic itch disorder that's undiagnosed. They have
been maltreated by the medical establishment. And you are welcome to
quote me on that," she adds.

In 1987, German researchers found itch wasn't simply the weak form of
pain it had always been assumed to be. Rather, they concluded itch has
its own separate and dedicated network of nerves. And while a pain
nerve has a sensory jurisdiction of roughly a millimetre, an itch nerve
can pick up disturbances on the skin over three inches away.

Oaklander surmises that itch evolved as a way for humans instinctively
to rid themselves of dangerous insects. When a mosquito lands on your
arm and it tickles, this sensation is not the straightforward feeling
of its legs pushing on your skin. It is, in fact, a neurological alarm
system; one that can go wrong for a variety of reasons – shingles,
sciatica, spinal cord tumours or lesions, to name a few. In some cases,
it can be triggered, suddenly and severely, without anything touching
the skin.

This, Oaklander believes, is what is happening to morgellons patients.
"That they have insects on them is a very reasonable conclusion
because, to them, it feels no different from how it would if there were
insects on them. To your brain, it's exactly the same. So you need to
look at what's going on with their nerves. Unfortunately, what can
happen is a dermatologist fails to find an explanation and jumps to a
psychiatric one."

That's not to say there aren't some patients whose problem is
psychiatric, she adds. Others still might suffer delusions in addition
to their undiagnosed neuropathic illness. Even so, "It's not up to some
primary care physician to conclude that a patient has a major
psychiatric disorder."

The CDC is due to publish a long-delayed study on the condition and, if
it proves Oaklander's theory correct, this would explain a great deal.
Why, for example, Greg Smith's lesions stopped developing when he
stopped scratching: because they were self-inflicted. Why I found
fibres on my hand: because they are picked up from the environment.
What's more, if morgellons is not actually a disease but a combination
of symptoms that might have all sorts of different maladies as its
source, this squares with something Savely said she's "constantly
perplexed about… when I find a treatment that helps one person, it
doesn't help the next at all. Every patient is a whole new ball game."

I phone Paul and explain the itch-nerve theory.

"I can't see how that relates to the physical condition," he sighs.
"I've got marks on my back that I can't even reach. I've not created
those by scratching."

I ask how he has been. "Pretty crap, actually. Been forced out of my
job. They said it's 'based on my engagement level', and that's down to
the lack of energy I've got. I can't sign myself off sick or as having
a degraded performance because morgellons is not a diagnosis. There's
no legitimate reason for me not to be operating at full speed."

There's a silence.

"Another thing has been destroyed by this disease," he says finally.
"And all because morgellons isn't supposed to exist."

Ancient people knew that
wherever the earth’s energy gathered into a vortex was a sacred place.
They knew – and scientists are beginning to understand once again today
– that we are surrounded by a tremendous amount of energy that has been
provided for us by the Creator. It’s available for the asking if we
could only learn to harness the forces of the universe in a positive
way. Some refer to it as the cosmic flow. We could enter Stargates,
learning to travel through space and time, and perhaps power our homes
and automobiles at a fraction of the cost of what we spend today.

There are certain places you can “feel it in the air” – where the
atmosphere prickles with electricity making your hair stand on end.
There are certain sacred spots where the earth vibrates at a higher
level. These are earth’s vortex regions, its gateways to other
dimensions.

Here is a list of some of the spots which are so mystical that
thousands visit them annually so as to mingle with other worldly
intelligence. Of course, one has to go to these places very gingerly,
very carefully, as there are certain “hazards” which might confront the
novice along their spiritual journey.

Sedona – Located in the State of Arizona, in the Great South West,
Sedona is the Mecca for New Age orientated travelers. Here for several
centuries Native Americans have performed shamanistic rituals drawing
on the power generated by the red rocks said to have great healing
properties. Landmarks such as Bell and Cathedral Rocks are said to be
doorways to another dimension. UFOs have been known to dot the sky and
strange beings from other realms often materialize and are caught on
film. One of the “hot spots” for UFO sightings known as the Bradshaw
Ranch has been purchased by the Department of Land Management and is
now “off limits” to tourists. Celebrities such as Shirley MacLaine can
often be seen strolling the streets of Sedona. There are many art
galleries and metaphysical centers to occupy a person’s time when not
doing a bit of backpacking.

Bermuda Triangle - Hundreds of planes and ships have mysteriously
vanished in this swirling vortex of ocean situated between Florida,
Puerto Rico and Bermuda. Flying into the area, veteran pilots have
often reported their navigation equipment going wild. Mysterious balls
of light have been seen descending and shooting out of the ocean.
Christopher Columbus even reported strange aerial displays in the
captain’s log. From time to time, mysterious fogs roll in to land from
out at sea and individuals report being drawn almost into a hypnotic
trance. Though most scientists are skeptical, there are others who
believe such an unknown power can be harnessed and used to our
advantage. This is a true Stargate – but some who have entered have not
returned to tell the tale.

The Great Pyramid – Egypt’s Pyramid of Giza is the largest structure in
the world built by man. Archaeologists contend that the Great Pyramid
was used as a burial chamber for the pharoahs. They don’t find it a
miracle that the blocks of stone weigh many tons each, and it seems
impossible even for hundreds of slaves to move them into their proper
position. Believers in the Ancient Astronaut theory say the
construction of the Great Pyramid might have come about with the help
of extraterrestrials. Arcane researchers have presented many other
views including a variety of geophysical, astronomical, numerical, and
prophetic interpretations made by explorers, authors, and visitors to
the Great Pyramid over the last 200+ years. These interpretations run
the range of topics such as the Great Pyramid having been used as a
sundial, to the calculation of the speed of light, to the prediction of
the exact dates of the birth of Adam, the Exodus, and the birth,
baptism, and crucifixion of Jesus. It is perhaps the most recognizable
vortex on Earth.

Stonehenge - There are various theories as to who actually constructed
Stonehenge, a huge circular monolith located on Salisbury Plane in
England. Going back many hundreds of years, we know that the Druids
used it for their religious ceremonies and that it acts as a huge
sundial and calendar. Tourists flock here especially during the equinox
to have their vibrations lifted. Some have reported “missing time,”
voyages out of the body. A rather new phenomenon associated with the
region around Stonehenge is the unexplained appearance of crop circles
consisting of mysterious, compelling designs that appear overnight in
fields of grain in the same area in the form of circles, intricate
geometric symbols and glyphs. (In the UK, they're actually known as
“corn circles.”) For a long time one of the best spots to see a UFO was
in the nearby town of Warminister, where nightly skywatches were
organized.

Mount Shasta – For the more adventuresome who are willing to go out on
their own and disappear from society for a while. Lemurians and
survivors of other "Lost Civilizations" are said to roam the mountain
freely and occasionally wander into town to trade gold for supplies. A
strange race of “little people” appear at night to collect edibles and
return to their secret cavern homes. Native Americans residing in the
backwoods say they have not only heard the screams of Bigfoot, but have
seen these hairy creatures close-up! Here, some have claimed to have
visited Telos, the capitol of the Inner Earth occupied by the Ascended
Masters of Wisdom. There are also accounts of miraculous healings,
including those by folks whose eyesight has been regenerated after
being struck by mysterious blue beams of light coming from inside the
mountain.

Mojave Desert – Stretching for hundreds of square miles, the Mojave
Desert is said to draw UFOs like a magnet. Many of the early reports of
meeting with human-looking aliens took place in spots like Joshua Tree
and at Giant Rock, one of nature’s largest standing rocks where crystal
partials are imbedded, increasing the proper cosmic vibrations suitable
for contact with other dimensions. Many ghost towns dot the area, left
over from when prospectors flocked to the region in a frenzy for gold.
There are chilling tales of abandoned mines, mysterious creatures,
spook lights and even a haunted Opera House in the middle of Death
Valley. One of the most scenic settings in the world, Mother Nature
offers all the complements necessary for peaceful trance-like states or
for channeling.

Romania’s Hoia-Baciu Forest - There is even a magical forest in
Romania. The Hoia-Baciu Forest is, for sure, one of the country’s most
famous locales, where a series of inexplicable phenomena have been
investigated and analyzed. It is called “the Bermuda Triangle of
Transylvania.” As one website (juliasromaniaguide.com/hoiabaciuforest/)
explains it, “The Hoia-Baciu Forest keeps on being fascinating,
especially because of what the witnesses say about the strangest
physical sensations, the lights in the middle of the night, the shapes,
forms, the strange appearances of human faces, the voices and the
different colors. The place has shortly become famous among the
paranormal and esoteric events specialists, entire teams of famous
scientific explorers from Germany, France, USA and Hungary visiting the
Hoia-Baciu Forest even during the Communism and managing to catch some
inexplicable phenomena.”

We hope this brief check list will wet your appetite for more
information on the subject of natural Stargates and portals to other
dimensions. There could be a spot near where you live that can evoke a
spiritual or mystical experience. Mountainous regions like those at
Brown Mountain, North Carolina and the Andes of Peru can trigger
something within you - you just have to go looking for it.

Source: League of Western Fortean Intermediatists
http://forteanswest.com/lowfiguesteditorial-TimBeckley0511.php

-
UFOS
AROUND
THE WORLD DEPARTMENT -

UFO Sightings on the Rise
in Finland

UFO sightings are becoming more frequent in Finland. UFO enthusiasts
catch glimpses of hundreds of unidentified objects annually, but most
of them turn out to have a logical explanation. Ufologists doubt that
the armed forces are concealing information about their own sightings.

A typical UFO sighting involves noticing a bright light moving
strangely across the sky in the dark. Hardly anything else can be said
to describe the phenomenon, says Lasse Ahonen from the UFO-Finland
organisation.

Ufology has been Ahonen’s hobby for the last 46 years. A mere photo is
not enough proof for him.

“We always need basic information about the pictures. The internet is
full of mere images.”

Planets and debris

There have been considerably more UFO sightings in Finland in recent
years. The two organisations in this field, Finnish UFO Research
Association FUFORA and UFO Finland, yearly receive some three hundred
reports of sightings altogether.

An airplane’s lights or a planet might cause strange light phenomena.
Sometimes no further explanation is needed than debris in a camera’s
lens. Ufologists say that a natural explanation is found for most cases.

However, a few remain unsolved. Some UFO enthusiasts believe that
visits from aliens account for some of them.

“At this stage, all options should be kept in mind and kept open,”
Ahonen says.

Conspiracy theories

Several countries have lately published formerly classified official
data on UFO sightings. Similar data is also collected in Finland, where
explanations made by officials are stored in the war archive. Atso
Hapaanen has written a book on the military sightings of UFOs in
1933-1979 on the basis of this data.

UFO enthusiasts disagree on whether the military—and especially the air
forces—in possession of any newer material.

“I don’t believe that the Air Force has any UFO maps,” says Björn
Borg, researcher from FUFORA.

Borg is also sceptical that the Air Force would conceal anything about
it. Ahonen’s opinion differs.

“I consider it very likely that there is observational data,” he says.
“Would it not be time for the Finnish defence forces to also move on to
the 2000s and follow other countries’ example by opening up more about
this,” he inquires.

YLE has also turned to the Air Force for answers, but the Air Force
said there were no secrets about sightings.

Chief Public Information Official Joni Malkamäki said that the Air
Force checks up on citizens’ observations about 2-4 times a year.
According to Malkamäki, information usually comes in about strange
light phenomena and less frequently about objects.

“These findings usually fall under atmospheric phenomena, such as
meteorites and space debris burning in the atmosphere.”

An examination of files that
the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has declassified under the
terms of the Freedom of Information Act reveals that, in the Cold War
environment of the 1970’s, the DIA spent considerable time researching
the nature of, and potential uses of, of extra-sensory perception and
psychic phenomena in a wartime setting. Not only that; the DIA was
predominantly very troubled by one particularly nightmarish and nagging
scenario: that the Soviets would succeed in using ESP as a tool of
espionage, and that the secrets of the Pentagon, the CIA and just about
everyone else would be blown wide open for psychic-penetration by the
KGB and the Kremlin.

Acting on this deep concern, the DIA (along with elements of both the
CIA and the U.S. Army) began to seriously address the issue of whether
or not the powers of the mind would one day prove to be superior to –
or at the very least, the equal of – more conventional and down to
earth tools of espionage and warfare. And it was as a direct result of
its intensive study of Soviet research into psychic powers for
espionage purposes, that the DIA learned of some of the notable and
extraordinary advances made by both Russian and Czechoslovakian
scientists, whose attention was focused on the links between mental
phenomena and the animal-kingdom.

Interestingly, one aspect of this research – detailed in-depth within
the pages of a September 1975 document, Soviet and Czechoslovakian
Parapsychology Research - reveals the DIA’s findings on this very issue
in the former Soviet-Bloc countries.

As evidence of this, the file specifically addresses an intriguing, and
grisly, Soviet Naval experiment that reportedly occurred in the mid
1950’s and that, at least a decade and a half later, was still
considered to be highly classified in nature by Soviet authorities.
Despite the overwhelming secrecy surrounding the event, the DIA was
able to glean enough data suggesting that Soviet scientists were
involved in research to determine what happens at the moment of death,
the nature of death, and the possibility that animals experience some
form of after-life.

The report carefully notes: “Dr. Pavel Naumov, conducted animal
biocommunication studies between a submerged Soviet Navy submarine and
a shore research station: these tests involved a mother rabbit and her
newborn litter and occurred around 1956.”

The document continues: “According to Naumov, Soviet scientists placed
the baby rabbits aboard the submarine. They kept the mother rabbit in a
laboratory on shore where they implanted electrodes (EEG?) in her
brain. When the submarine was submerged, assistants killed the rabbits
one by one. At each precise moment of death, the mother rabbit’s brain
produced detectable and recordable reactions.”

Demonstrating the sheer level of secrecy surrounding this particular
affair, the DIA recorded that: “As late as 1970 the precise protocol
and results of this test described by Naumov were believed to be
classified. Many can be found in Soviet literature with dogs, bears,
birds, insects and fish in conjunction with basic psychotronic
research. The Pavlov Institute in Moscow may have been involved in
animal telepathy until 1970.”

Did the Soviet Navy’s experiments of 1956 stumble upon the incredible
secrets of life after death in the animal kingdom? That the mother
rabbit’s brain produced, detected, and recorded significant reactions
at the precise moment that her offspring were killed is both eye
opening and not a little disturbing. One is also prompted to ask: were
the results of this experiment indicative of evidence for the existence
of some form of soul in the animal-kingdom?

We know nothing more as the Soviets immediately and effectively
classified their findings in this area. Why they did so is, perhaps, as
much a mystery as are the many and varied controversial issues
pertaining to life beyond the confines of the physical body itself.

Al Qaeda's confirmation of
Osama bin Laden's death will likely damp the conspiracy theories that
flared up after the announcement of his killing, even without the
release of photographs of the terrorist leader's body. A vast majority
of Americans agree with President Obama's decision not to release the
photos, according to a recent CBS poll, an indication that the public
does not require further proof.

But theories continue to burble on fringe blogs and message boards, and
given the nature of conspiracy theories, they probably won't ever
disappear entirely. In fact, many of the theories are simply updates to
ones that have existed since the September 11 terrorist attacks. The
Daily Beast rounded up some of the most popular theories—and some of
the strangest.

William and Kate Tipped on bin Laden Killing

Bin Laden's death bumped the birthers out of the news—it also bumped
off the royal wedding. Could there be a connection between the two huge
media stories? The Daily Mail thought so, and managed to track down a
professor from the University of Buckingham who said he “would not be
surprised” if Prince William and Kate Middleton had been forewarned
about the top secret raid on bin Laden's compound. After all, the royal
couple postponed their honeymoon just before bin Laden's death was
announced. The Mail even asked a palace spokesman if there was a
connection. He insisted there was none.

Bin Laden Worked for the CIA

Self-styled independent journalist James Corbett called the news of bin
Laden's death a “retirement party for an old CIA asset, along the lines
of Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.” Like the theory that bin Laden has long
been dead, it's another story from the 9/11 Truth movement that's been
updated for the news of bin Laden's killing: bin Laden was always just
a scapegoat for the September 11 attacks, and now that he was no longer
useful, the CIA decided to tie up the loose ends. “Whether he actually
did die yesterday or he's been dead for years, or whatever the case may
be, this is simply discarding a war on terror bogeyman who's no longer
scaring the populace,” according to Corbett. Iranian security official
Javad Jahangirzadeh took a similar view, saying that bin Laden had been
part of an American plot to create a violent image of Islam, and now
that his work is done, he's been killed.

One wag suggests bin Laden was part of an American plot to create a
violent image of Islam, and now that his work is done, he's been killed.

The CIA faked the new videos

If there was ever a question about whether photographs of bin Laden's
body would convince skeptics, look no further than the response to bin
Laden's home videos. In a post titled “Hoax,” a writer at libertarian
Alex Jones' site, Info Wars, says the videos, which were released “in a
desperate effort to bolster its crumbling official narrative,” are a
bit too similar to other videos release in 2007 by a “Pentagon front
group.” The Pentagon has a history of passing off old bin Laden videos
as new and creating its own, the Info Wars blogger writes. Another
blogger points out differences in bin Laden’s beard between the new
videos and older ones, and wonders whether the videos are “the smoking
gun conspiracy theorists have been looking for.” The CIA actually has
faked a bin Laden video before, as the Info Wars blogger points out,
though it's not one you've ever seen played on the news. The Washington
Post reported last year that the CIA made a propaganda video showing a
fake bin Laden sitting around a campfire “swigging bottles of liquor
and savoring their conquests with boys.”

Osama bin Laden is not dead

Surprisingly, this seems to be the less popular of two main conspiracy
theories. For obvious reasons, this version is more popular among the
Taliban than in the United States. But even in the U.S., some raised
doubts about whether bin Laden had really been killed. Fox Business
News host Andrew Napolitano asked guests “whether the government is
telling us the truth or pulling a fast one to save Obama’s lousy
presidency.” On Facebook, a little over 2,000 people somewhat
ambiguously “liked” a page called “Osama bin Laden NOT DEAD.” The
posters on the wall seem to mostly think it was a ploy to get Obama
reelected.

Osama bin Laden was already dead

A more palatable theory for those who want to believe both that bin
Laden is dead and that the U.S. government is perpetrating a vast
fraud, this one actually has been around for years. The gist of it is
that bin Laden died of kidney failure or was killed by U.S. troops in
Tora Bora and that his body has been frozen for a decade, held as a
trump card that two different administrations have been waiting to
play. Different people give different reasons for why Obama would play
the card now, 17 months before the election. Some say to bolster his
flagging ratings, others to distract attention from his birth
certificate issue. Urging everyone to buy gold, one blogger claims bin
Laden's death was faked in order to distract the public while Obama
stole everyone's pensions to pay for the national debt. Iran's
intelligence minister, Heidar Moslehi, also saying bin Laden had been
dead for years, claimed that the terrorist’s killing was a hoax meant
to distract people from an Islamic awakening.

No Women in the Situation Room

While not exactly a conspiracy theory, this at least qualifies as a bit
of unexplained intrigue: One Hasidic Jewish newspaper appears to be
boldly proposing that no women were with the president and other
security chiefs in the Situation Room during the raid on bin Laden’s
compound. Most people are familiar with the now-ubiquitous photograph,
which rocketed to the top of flikr within days of being released,
showing Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and other administration
honchos in the Situation Room. Well, the Brooklyn-based Hasidic
newspaper Der Zeitung Photoshopped Hillary Clinton and administration
official Audrey Tomason out of the photo. The paper had no comment on
its photo, but many conjectured that the picture was doctored either
because of editors’ concerns about immodesty or desire not to show
women in positions of power.

Iranian power struggle between president and supreme leader sees
arrests and claims of undue influence of chief of staff.

Close allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been
accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an
increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of
staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and
charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns (spirits).

Ayandeh, an Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men,
Abbas Ghaffari, as "a man with special skills in metaphysics and
connections with the unknown worlds".

The arrests come amid a growing rift between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei
which has prompted several MPs to call for the president to be
impeached.

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad returned to his office after an 11-day walkout
in an apparent protest over Khamenei's reinstatement of the
intelligence minister, who the president had initiallyasked to resign.

Ahmadinejad's unprecedented disobedience prompted harsh criticism from
conservatives who warned that he might face the fate of Abdulhassan
Banisadr, Iran's first post-revolution president who was impeached and
exiled for allegedly attempting to undermine clerical power.

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a hardline cleric close to Khamenei, warned
that disobeying the supreme leader – who has the ultimate power in Iran
– is equivalent to "apostasy from God".

Ahmadinejad has so far declined to officially back Khamenei's ruling
over Heydar Moslehi, the minister at the centre of the row. In the
first cabinet meeting since the president returned, Moslehi was absent.

Khamenei's supporters believe that the top-level confrontation stems
from the increasing influence of Mashaei, an opponent of greater
involvement of clerics in politics, who is being groomed by Ahmadinejad
as a possible successor.

But the feud has taken a metaphysical turn following the release of an
Iranian documentary alleging the imminent return of the Hidden Imam
Mahdi – the revered saviour of Shia Islam, whose reappearance is
anticipated by believers in a manner comparable to that with which
Christian fundamentalists anticipate the second coming of Jesus.

Conservative clerics, who say that the Mahdi's return cannot be
predicted, have accused a "deviant current" within the president's
inner circle, including Mashaei, of being responsible for the film.

Ahmadinejad's obsession with the hidden imam is well known. He often
refers to him in his speeches and in 2009 said that he had documentary
evidence that the US was trying to prevent Mahdi's return.

Since Ahmadinejad's return this week, at least 25 people, who are
believed to be close to Mashaei, have been arrested. Among them is
Abbas Amirifar, head of the government's cultural committee and some
journalists of Mashaei's recently launched newspaper, Haft-e-Sobh.

On Saturday, Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei's deputy representative in the
powerful Revolutionary Guard, said: "Today Mashaei is the actual
president. Mr Ahmadinejad has held on to a decaying rope by relying on
Mashaei."

Millions who suffer from Friday the 13th phobia prefer not to tempt
fate.

Most Canadians will brave ice pellets hailing from the skies, rush-hour
traffic and roads covered in black ice to get to work. But some won't
be able to face the thought of leaving their homes on Friday the 13th.

The good news for friggatriskaidekaphobiacs, people with
Friday-the-13th phobia, is that there is only one this year. The bad
news: it's today.

This day, tied to numerous myths and superstitions, happens at least
once a year. But never more than three times a year.

How to see one coming? Look out for months that start on a Sunday.
There will be a Friday the 13th 12 days later.

Historians and mythological experts haven't been able to pin down
exactly how this fear started.

Anxiety related to the number 13 is evidenced by numerous upper-crust
hotels in Vancouver that don't have a 13th floor.

There's no estimate on how many people in Canada suffer from
friggatriskaidekaphobia, but somewhere between 17 million and 21
million Americans are affected by the fear, according to the Stress
Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina.

"It's been estimated that $800 or $900 million [US] is lost in business
on this day because people will not fly or do business they would
normally do," said Donald Dossey, founder of the institute.

But is there evidence to support and enable the fear?

One 1993 study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that
the traffic accident risk increases by as much as 52 per cent on Friday
the 13th, compared to a normal Friday.

And other less scientific data shows some eerie findings related to the
day.

This includes: the shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Friday,
Sept. 13, 1996; the Uphaar Cinema fire in Delhi, which killed 59 people
and injured 103 who were trapped behind locked doors on Friday, June
13, 1997; and the crash of Uruguayan Air Force flight 571 on Friday,
Oct. 13, 1972, which led to the immediate deaths of a quarter of the
passengers, plus deaths in the days that followed as survivors
succumbed to cold, injury and an avalanche that killed eight.

But fear not, there are ways to ward off bad luck. A practical one
would be to have confidence in your own luck, or perhaps to stay
positive throughout the day.

Remedies with folklore origins would perhaps suit those with
superstitious tendencies. For example, it has been said that luck can
be improved on this day if you climb to the top of a mountain or
skyscraper, and burn all the socks you own that have any holes.

If you are an omnivorous yogi or gymnast, you can do a headstand while
eating a piece of gristle or cartilage.

There are certain activities that also best be avoided: needlework;
harvesting; beginning a journey or going out to sea; getting married;
moving; or starting a new job.

One that you can no longer avoid, but has been suggested to be part of
the list, is hearing or reading about the news.

But for those who can't avoid those activities and can't participate in
said remedies, just put on a pair of red underwear. That's how the
Chinese, myself included, avoid bad luck.